Southgate voices future fears

18 December 2008 09:25

Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate has warned that the English Premier League could be hit by the sort of economic downturn which has affected Italian football.
Southgate feels that a sense of complacency is creeping into the game in England and fears that a financial shock could be just around the corner.
He said: "I think there's a complacency about the game, that it'll keep growing.
"It's broadcast around the world and how much bigger can it get? Everything goes in cycles.
"The Spanish league at times has been the one to play in, Serie A was a few years ago - it was the place the players got paid the most.
"That place is now the Premier League, so the best players come here, but history tells us that those things don't stay that way.
"I don't think we can take it for granted that people will keep turning up and paying.
"People will say you can't afford to drop out of the league, but the way we were going, I'm not sure if we could afford to stay in it."